Nearly half of American CFOs say their firms are considering reducing employment thanks to the law; additionally, 20 percent said they may hire fewer workers, and 10 percent said they might lay workers off. A full 40 percent said they may reduce workers hours to below 30 hours per week in order to avoid labeling those employees as full-time (Obamacare mandates that a company with 50 full-time employees provide them with health insurance).

Forty-four percent of companies said they will consider reducing health benefits for current employees because of the law.

“I doubt the advocates of this legislation would have foretold the negative impact on employment,” said Campbell R. Harvey, Professor of Finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He characterized the law’s impact on the economy as “massive.”